Something Else

In Something Else, Rachel has purchased Cynthia, an AI programmed to be a younger version of herself. At first, it seems the point is for Rachel to use Cynthia to address some past experience with “Mr. John,” a fictionalized version of a man she worked with twenty years earlier. As the play progresses, though, it becomes clear that something else is hidden in Rachel’s unconscious. It’s not until she uses an experimental electrode method of programming Cynthia that she confronts the consequences of her own childhood mistakes, and accepts more fully the long history of her sexuality.

The Blank Theatre, Living Room Series, Hollywood, 2022
Southwest Theatre Productions, Female Lead Competition, Semi-Finalist, Austin, 2020
Geva Theatre Center, Regional Writers Showcase, Rochester, 2019

–

Swans

When Paul’s mother returns after a ten-year absence, Paul is forced to confront the circumstances of her leaving as well as his own complicity in shaping a world where women are not always safe. In the era of #MeToo, the play Swans is a tender exploration of a local family torn apart by abuse.

Southwest Theatre Productions, Male Emotional Transformation Competition, Semi-Finalist, Austin, 2020
IGNITE of Greater Rochester, All-Deaf Production, Rochester, 2019
Straw Mat Writers and Method Machine, World Premiere, Geva Theatre Center’s Fielding Stage, Rochester, 2018
MuCCC, New Plays New Voices, Rochester, 2017

–

New York Plays

Courtesy of Annette Dragon Photography

This collection of 27 short plays set across New York State chronicles the cultural and geographical diversity of the state, exploring different histories and ideologies specific to different regions. Some employ straightforward, gritty realism; some employ choruses that function as ghosts or speak in poetry; some are experimental in their staging; some aim for lyricism; some have no spoken words at all. All confront the complexity and humanity of the dramatic form—as well as of New York State, its landscape, and its residents.

Out of Pocket Productions, World Premiere, MuCCC, Rochester, 2014
For Production Rights through Heartland Plays, Click Here

Featured Shorts from New York Plays:

“Speaking Through a Screen”
InDigest, Publication, 2014

“They Were Real”
Geva Theatre Center/Writers and Books, 2 Pages/2 Voices, Rochester, 2014

“Litter”
The Women’s Theatre Project, Girl Play Festival, Fort Lauderdale, 2014

“Relativity”
Over Here Theatre Company, ObamAmerica Festival, Finalist, London, 2014
Subversive Theatre, Subversive Shorts Festival, Finalist, Buffalo, 2013

“The Next Thing: After Eugene O’Neill’s Before Breakfast”
Chamber Four Literary Magazine, Publication, 2013
Geva Theatre Center/Writers and Books, 2 Pages/2 Voices, Rochester, 2013

–

The Cell

In The Cell, Lisa and Harry launch an affair while following the trail of a twenty-year-old environmental crime. By the play’s end, both characters wrestle with questions of accountability and exchange in a market-based economy, as well as with the relationship between personal loss, romantic love, and the stories we tell ourselves about our lives.

MuCCC, New Play Festival, Out of Pocket Productions, Rochester, 2014
Geva Theatre Center, Festival of New Theatre, Geva Theatre Center, Rochester, 2014
Earth Matters on Stage Festival, Semi-Finalist, Reno, 2014
Geva Theatre Center, Regional Writers Showcase, Rochester, 2014

–

Rochester Fringe Festival

Shitty Lives, co-authored with Straw Mat Writers
The First Niagara Fringe Festival, MuCCC, Rochester, 2015

FourPlay, co-authored with Straw Mat Writers
Cahoodaloodaling, Publication, In Cahoots Contest Honorable Mention, 2014
The First Niagara Fringe Festival, MuCCC, Rochester, 2014

–

Revolutions

Revolutions tells the stories of Cody, Adele, Hugh, and Ellie in monologue form–first on the morning of July 4, and then later that evening. The four characters are connected not only by their celebrations of Independence Day, but also by their confrontations with the paradox of revolution: a word that means both to break out of and to persist in a pattern. Accompanying this theme are circular images and metaphors that infuse each monologue, inviting audience members to explore what it means to revolt as much as what it means to revolve.

Conceived by Maria Brandt and Erin Bell, Written by Maria Brandt, Performed by Erin Bell, 2006

–

Short Plays

What Moves at the Bottom
Commissioned by Alleyway Theatre as part of Currents: 716, Buffalo, 2020

Ghosts
Everyone’s Theatre Company, Rochester, 2017

The Root People
Shark Reef Literary Magazine, Publication, 2012
Boog City Poetry Festival, Workshop Production, NYC, 2012
Moving Arts Theatre Festival, Semi-Finalist, Los Angeles, 2012
Last Frontier Theatre Conference, Workshop Reading, Valdez, 2004

Santa’s Baby
The Bridge Theatre Company, Boston, 2003
Boston Theatre Marathon, Finalist, 2002

–